The total of fire related deaths recorded in the UK fell to 516 – the lowest figure since 1960 and down from 594 the previous year – according to figures released by the government.
Of these, 331 deaths were from accidental dwelling fires, compared with 363 a year earlier, a fall of 9%. Injuries resulting from fires fell by 11% to 14,000.
The UK fire and rescue service attended almost 872,000 fires or false alarms during 2004/05 -18% less than in the previous year. The total number of fires attended in the UK fell by 28% to 430,000. There were 58,000 fires in the home, a fall of 8% compared with the previous year.
The number of false fire alarms attended in the UK fell by 5% to 443,000. But more than the whole of this decrease was due to a sharp fall in malicious false alarms – down by 21% to 47,000; false alarms due to equipment actually rose by 1% to 285,000.
Fire Statistics Monitor is available from the ODPM website: http://www.odpm.gov.uk
